The final Chess Heroes book, Chess Heroes Games Book 2, will be available in pdf format within the next day or two. I’m sure you’re all looking forward to it.

By way of a taster, here’s a position from one of the featured games.

Black to play: how would you continue here?

I’ll tell you more about both the position and the book later in the week.

Two vital relegation matches this week, with mixed fortunes for our teams.

On Wednesday we faced Streatham 1 in the London League, hoping for at least a draw.

A great result against a higher rated team, with excellent wins from Mike, Caspar and John, the last two against much higher rated opponents. It could have been even better as well, with Iain and Alastair both erring in time trouble. Alastair also missed a win in the opening.

Here’s the current league table. We’re not mathematically safe yet, but Lewisham’s last two matches are against Cavendish and Wood Green.

The following evening our TVA team faced Kingston A, perhaps the strongest amateur club team in Britain, who, following their usual maximalist policy, fielded an exceptionally strong team with an IM down on board 4.

The whitewash wasn’t unexpected. We had chances in several games but didn’t take them. Alastair and Ian were both level until committing immediately fatal oversights.

Congratulations to Kingston, who may well be, at least by some measures, the best chess club in the country at the moment. They’re covering all bases, finishing 2nd (as CSC/Kingston) in the 4NCL, fielding very strong teams in local leagues, running internal competitions, doing a lot of community outreach, and they will be starting a junior club, which I’m sure will be very successful, later in the year.

Even a point in this match might have made a big difference, as you’ll see from the current league table.

We’re assuming only one team will be relegated. Wimbledon A, who won Division 2 will want to be promoted, but we understand that Maidenhead B, who have finished 2nd, will probably decline promotion.

Ealing A travel to Kingston B on Monday, needing a win to overtake both Surbiton and ourselves on game points. If they win, we’ll need to draw our last match against Hammersmith on 28 May to be certain of staying up. A 2½-3½ defeat will leave us level with Surbiton and facing a play-off for survival.

Thanks, as always, to all who played in this week’s matches, especially Caspar, John and Alastair who played in both of them.

On Monday I asked you how White should continue in this position (Sasikiran – Eren Prague 2026).

There was a lot of online discussion on this one, but the correct solution was eventually discovered. Well done everyone (especially David H and Adrian W), and thanks for participating.

The game continued 1. d7! Qd6 2. Qe6! Rb1+ 3. Kh2 Rd1 4. Nxf6+ Kh8 5. d8Q+ Qxd8 6. Qxf7 and Black resigned.

You get full credit for finding the first two moves here.

I took this position from the latest issue of CHESS, which publishes 24 puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty every month. They published the position from two moves earlier, but the second move in their solution wasn’t significantly better than several alternatives, so I started from here.

If you’re serious about chess improvement you should be spending time every week, preferably every day, solving puzzles of this nature, either online or from books and magazines.

A quick question for you today.

How should White continue in this position (Sasikiran – Eren Prague 2026)?

Just the one match to report as the season reaches its end.

Our TVB team’s last match was against Wimbledon B, who were unfortunately only able to field four players.

Here’s what happened.

At one point a draw looked very likely. Victor had no trouble disposing of his low-rated opponent. Adrian C got into trouble in the opening, and, although he won material, his lack of development made his position too hard to defend.

At that point, the last time I looked at the games, Tom L was a piece for a pawn down in the ending, although, with not so many pawns remaining there were technical difficulties. Manuel’s opponent had an extra advanced passed h-pawn, again with queens off the board, which looked very strong. 

The next thing I knew, Manuel emerged to tell me he’d won his game: he thought he was always holding and his opponent, under time pressure, blundered before his flag fell in what was by then a losing position. Tom L had managed to defend his lost ending.

So we emerged with a victory which wasn’t as convincing as it looked on paper.

It was great to be able to give a club debut to Manuel and a team debut to Adrian C.

Thanks and well done to our team.

Monday’s study, composed exactly 100 years ago by a Latvian master, was used in the Minor Section of the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in February.

Here’s the main line of the solution. Remember that if you reach a position where Black has KBN v K you’ve failed to find the solution as checkmate can be forced.

1. Ra1

We have to stop Black promoting.

1… Bf3

Black insists on promotion.

2. Kf8

White gains time by attacking the knight.

2… Nf6

The knight moves to safety.

3. g7

White threatens to promote.

3… Kh7

Black aims to prevent promotion.

4. g8Q+

White promotes anyway, having looked into the future.

4… Nxg8

Black has no choice.

5. Ra7+

White checks to force the king into the corner.

5… Kh8

Black has to defend the knight to maintain winning chances.

6. Ra2

White attacks the pawn, happy to allow promotion.

6… d1Q

Black promotes, of course.

7. Rh2+

White plays a check. It’s almost mate, but not quite.

7… Bh5

No choice – but Black has a winning material advantage.

8. Rxh5+

White takes the bishop, and Black again, if he doesn’t want to get mated, has only one move.

8… Qxh5

And, miraculously, a beautiful stalemate has suddenly appeared on the board.

Now where did that come from?

Solving studies like this doesn’t just improve your calculation, creativity and imagination. It also shows you the beauty of our wonderful game.

Many coaches agree that solving endgame studies is one of the best ways to improve your chess skill.

This study, composed exactly 100 years ago by a Latvian master, was used in the Minor Section of the Winton British Chess Solving Championship in February.

There’s always good news and bad news in these positions, but here the news is mostly bad.

It looks like the black pawn will cost you your rook, while your only remaining pawn isn’t going to last long.

This will leave your lone king facing bishop and knight, which is a win (and if you don’t know how to force checkmate with bishop and knight perhaps you should learn).

You need to be creative and imaginative to discover how you can avoid defeat here.

It’s a bank holiday today, so you’ll have plenty of time to work it out. May the Fourth be with you!

As the season draws to an end, we have two Thames Valley League matches to report this week.

Our B team travelled down the M4 to Maidenhead, requiring a win in this and their final match for a hypothetical promotion slot which would keep our A team safe in Division 1.

We outrated them slightly on all boards so were hopeful of achieving the result we wanted but it didn’t quite work out for us.

Bertie fell into some prepared analysis and was soon worse. My game, a Dutch as expected (I’d predicted my opponent and knew what he would play) was much better than I thought at the time: I’ve annotated it for the website here. Sampson’s young opponent played the Exchange variation against his French Defence, and, although the queens came off early the position quickly became unbalanced. He won material but after missing some chances his opponent ended up with more than enough for the exchange, somehow getting a pawn to a7, which proved decisive. Jon played a Grand Prix Attack against his opponent’s Sicilian, giving up some pawns but not getting the attack he wanted. Matt faced the Morra Gambit, and again there was an early queen exchange. He held onto his material advantage, but missed several wins and finally agreed a draw in a rook ending where he was a pawn up with all the pawns on the same side. There didn’t seem to be a win at the time, but when he got home his computer told him he’d agreed a draw in a winning position. Tom was always in trouble after getting confused as to whether he was defending a Queen’s Gambit or a Nimzo-Indian. A rook down, his king was checked all the way up the board to g3, at which point his opponent had no more checks and was faced with inevitable mate. A very lucky point there, compensating for the missed chances on boards 2 and 6, but it was to no avail.

Thanks to all for playing, and especially to Sampson and Tom for driving.

On Thursday our TVC team welcomed Hounslow B to our new venue for their final match of the season. There was nothing at stake as we had already won Division 3, but we managed a narrow victory.

It would have been much more comfortable without an accident on board 2. These things happen if you’re out of practice. Well done to Pablo, David (a rapid victory with his trademark Stonewall Attack) and Abhay for winning their games, and congratulations to Mike RC, who has been an outstanding captain this season.

On Monday I asked you to assess this position from the game between Nick Edwards (Coulsdon 2) and Chris White (Richmond) played at the club last week. It’s White’s move (the colour, not the player).

Discussing this at the club last night there were differing opinions about who stood better and what White should play here. Several moves were suggested: Nc1, Nf4, Bf4, Qb2 for example. In general terms Black is rather better here. White’s position is stagnant, with a weak pawn on c4, while Black has a long-term plan of building up an attack on the kingside.

In the game, Nick Edwards played Kh1, losing fairly quickly. You can see the game here.

In fact White has one move here that holds the balance – and it’s none of those mentioned above.

17. Nd4!! and if 17… cxd4 then 18. cxd4 with c5 to follow. Stockfish tells me White’s central pawn mass more than outweighs Black’s extra piece.

After 17. Nd4!! Black should play 17… g5! 18. Nb5+ Kb8 and now 19. Bd4!!, when again Black should refuse the offered piece: after 19… Nh6! 20. Bxe5 Qxe5! (both pawn captures lose) the position apparently offers equal chances.

If you found this sequence you score a well deserved 100%.

I teach my pupils to use a CCTV when they look at a chessboard. Look for Checks, Captures, Threats and Violent moves. At a higher level there’s one other type of move you should always look for: PAWN LEVERS, PAWN BREAKS, call them what you will. Perhaps you might like to change V from Violent moves to pawn leVers.

Understanding closed positions requires being able to locate the potential pawn levers for both sides and assess whether or not they will be favourable.

Playing for Richmond B away to Maidenhead B I had, as anticipated, White against Tony Milnes. whom I’d played 10 times previously, the first time in 1980. Our most recent game had been a 12 move draw.

Tony always plays the French Defence against 1. e4 and the Dutch Defence against 1. d4 so I knew what to expect.

1. d4 e6

If you play the French as well as the Dutch this is a good way to start as you avoid dangerous lines like the Staunton Gambit and 2. Bg5. I decided to continue down the main lines for the time being.

2. c4 f5
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. g3 Bb4+

I was again expecting this move, which I often play myself, although he sometimes prefers Be7 here.

This is sometimes called the Dutch Indian, a cross between a Dutch proper and a Nimzo-Indian Defence.

5. Bd2

I don’t want to play Nc3 because the pawn on f5 is useful in the structure with doubled c-pawns. 5. Nd2 is also an option.

5… Qe7
6. Bg2 Bxd2+
7. Nbxd2 d6
8. O-O O-O

So far so normal. Here both players have potential pawn levers. Black is just about to play e5 while White can prepare e4. The engines prefer Re1 (or b4, preparing a potential lever with c5) to my move.

9. Qc2 Nc6

The immediate e5 was also possible, getting in his lever first. Now I could play 10. e4, but over-cautiously wanted to prevent a possible Nb4 first.

10. a3?!

There was no reason not to play 10. e4 as Nb4 is well me by either Qb3 or Qc3. After 10. e4 fxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 White is slightly better.

10… e5

A critical moment. My choice here will determine the future course of the game. I could opt for 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. e4 f4 or play d5 to keep the position closed. The computer considers them of equal value and both more than fine for Black.

11. d5 Nd8

I was wondering whether he’d try Nd4 here, but had decided that it wasn’t very good. He agreed, as does the engine. Nd8 is a standard plan for Black in this opening, planning Nf7, which will support a potential g5 with a kingside pawn advance to follow.

12. e3?!

Trying to prevent the pawn lever f4, but again over-cautious. 12. e4 was better.

12… Nf7
13. Nb3?!

Vacating d2 for the other knight. I’d intended to play b4 here, to prepare my pawn lever with c5, but decided it was too slow. Perhaps, but this is worse. The engine gives Black a 1 point advantage after 13… a5. At this point I realised I’d completely misplayed the last few moves. I’ve always found moves 10-15 to be the hardest part of chess, and this game is no exception.

13… b6
14. Nfd2 Bd7
15. Rae1 e4

A critical moment, changing the pawn structure, giving his knight a square on e5 and, at the same time, my knight a square on d4. The engine prefers a5, though.

16. f4

I thought I had to prevent Ne5 followed by Nd3, but in fact 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. f3, meeting Nd3 with Re2, would have been OK for me. Now he can, and perhaps should, take en passant, but preferred to keep the position closed.

16… Nh6?!

I didn’t quite understand this move, which seems to be moving away from the potential pawn lever g5. The eingine doesn’t understand it either, thinking I’m now very slightly better. I still wasn’t very happy with my position, though, as it was hard to see how I could play my pawn lever, c5, without hanging d5.

17. Nd4 Qf7
18. Nb1

Heading for c3

18… Qh5
19. Qe2

Offering a queen trade. I was expecting Tony to play Qxe2 and offer a draw, which I would have accepted. If you know me well you’ll be aware that I’m usually happy to share the point.

19… Qg6

He seemed to think he could attack my king using only pieces. I wasn’t convinced, but still couldn’t see anything concrete for me to do.

20. Nc3 a6
21. b4 Nh5?!

Again I didn’t really understand this, which seemed to leave the knight offside. With the black queen temporarily overloaded (defending e6 as well as h5) I spotted a tactical opportunity. I wasn’t convinced it was going to work but decided to take a punt.

22. Ne6!?

Creative, at least by my standards. The engine isn’t impressed, thinking I should continue woodshifting with a slightly better position, but my move gives Black some tactical problems to solve. When the queenside opens up, his Knights on the Rim will be Dim and Grim, while my pony on c3 (thanks, Mike H) will be a very happy horsey.

22… Bxe6
23. dxe6

Black obviously can’t take this pawn at once, but is it strong or weak? The immediate point is that my knight now has access to d5, with potential forks on e7 or c7 in view.

Now he should grovel with 23… Rfe8 24. Nd5 Rac8, followed by taking on e6. The engine considers the position balanced: I would have enough for the pawn, but no more than that. Instead he played the move I expected.

23… c6?

This is in effect the losing move, leaving Black in a very difficult position.

24. b5!?

The right idea, but even better was 24. Rd1 Rfd8 25. b5!.

24… axb5
25. cxb5 Rxa3

I should really have considered this sequence several moves earlier, and was perhaps lucky to have a good move here. In fact I have two winning moves: 26. Rc1, bringing my rooks into play was also more than good enough.

26. Qc4

Now Black has nothing better than to give up the exchange with Rxc3. But instead…

26… Re8
27. bxc6 Qxe6
28. Qxe6+ Rxe6
29. Nd5 Nf6

Offering a draw: I wasn’t sure why as it’s clear the c-pawn is going through. Not even I would accept a draw in this position! The rest of the game requires no comment.

30. c7 Re8
31. Nxb6 Rc3
32. Rc1 Rxe3
33. c8=Q Rxc8
34. Nxc8 Rd3
35. Rfd1 Nhg4
36. Rxd3 exd3
37. Rd1 Ne4
38. Rxd3 Ngf2
39. Bxe4 fxe4
40. Rxd6 1-0

You can play through the game here: click on any move for a pop-up window.